Sting of gas price is relative

Welcome to central Ohio, where the typical household has almost no problem covering the high cost of gasoline.

Welcome to central Ohio, where the typical household has almost no problem covering the high cost of gasoline.

Say what?

A new report from the Oil Price Information Service says most of Ohio, including all of the central part of the state, is doing comparatively well in dealing with gas prices.

The Pain at the Pump Index finds that the median Franklin County household spends 4.6 percent of its monthly income on gasoline, a figure that is lower than in 86 percent of counties nationwide.

Delaware County has it even better, with 2.9 percent of monthly income spent on gasoline, the lowest in Ohio and lower than in 99 percent of counties across the country.

But central Ohioans say they feel the sting as much as anyone else.

"We're just kind of making ends meet," said Chris Alltmont, who has a 35-minute commute from the city of Delaware to Columbus.

To offset higher gasoline prices, he and his wife have canceled their land-line phone service and cut back on trips to restaurants. But that doesn't cover all of it.

"We have not been able to find where the extra money will come from in the budget," he said.

Central Ohio's enviable standing in the report reflects a combination of positive indicators: high incomes and reasonable commute times.

Nowhere are the results more favorable than in Hunterdon County, N.J., where 1.9 percent of household income is spent on gasoline. On the opposite end is Wilcox County, Ala., where 15.4 percent goes toward gas.

Glen Falk, who helped put together the report for the Maryland-based oil price service, said gas prices are similar across the country, but there are big differences in the other variables.

"It's really about … where people make a good salary and also how much traveling they are doing," he said.

The report is based on gas-price data gathered in the last week of May by Wright Express, a company that handles payment processing for vehicle fleets. The income and commuting figures are from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Ohioans will almost certainly disagree with the idea that they are doing well, said Ohio University professor Ann Paulins. She is director of the university's School of Human and Consumer Sciences.

"I think everyone's feeling the pinch. Even if you're doing well and making a good salary and your disposable income remains healthy, you're feeling the creep of that growing percent of what you have going to fuel," she said.

Or, to put it another way, consumers are comparing current gas prices with their own experience, not how their circumstances compare with other people's.

"We don't have it as bad as other people," Paulins said.

And then there are the limitations that come from using median income as a measure. The median is the middle figure, which means that half of households have lower incomes -- some much lower.

Lee Yoakum, community-affairs coordinator for the city of Delaware, said he sees evidence all around him of people changing their routines because of gas prices. One of the most dramatic changes is in his own life: He has begun walking 2 miles to work rather than driving it.

"The numbers can tell one story at the macro level, but at the Main Street level, we're feeling it here in the city of Delaware, just like everyone is in the state of Ohio," he said.